


Block Party

by aintweproudriff



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Block party!!!!, Fluff? Angst? Who knows what we'll get, Ice Cream, Multi, im going to try to do pining and some friends to lovers, its gonna be a fun ride, someone will probably get hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-18 04:52:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11284092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: I feel really bad that I have so many ideas for this and yet no plan of where it's going to go. I hope you like it, though!





	1. The Flier

**Author's Note:**

> I feel really bad that I have so many ideas for this and yet no plan of where it's going to go. I hope you like it, though!

"Davey, Davey!" Les barged into David's room, dragging a smiling Sarah by the hand behind him.   
"There's a block party coming up," he waved a pastel blue flier in the air.   
"Can we go?"

"When is it?" David turned toward his siblings. 

"Uh, it's Friday night. At seven o'clock," Les studied the paper intently. 

"Where?"

"It's on the corner of- oh! That's right by Katherine's house!"

David glanced up at his sister, who was now grinning ear-to-ear and nodding. Rolling his eyes, he gave in. "Yeah, I think we can do that." 

He smiled at Sarah and Les, who cheered and high-fived. It was good to make people happy, especially people who wanted so badly to hear him say yes. 

"Hey wait," Sarah pulled him out of his thoughts. "Doesn't Jack live up by Kath?"   
Sarah raised her eyebrows in a teasing way, and poked her brother. 

David felt his ears get hot. 

"Yeah he does! With Race!" Les answered Sarah's mostly rhetorical question. "Kath's house is closest to this address, though, that's why I said her. See?"   
He pushed the paper towards Sarah, who took it. 

"Yeah, I see. So Jack and Race will probably be going to the party too. We should invite a bunch of the other boys," she built up her voice, trying to seem more confident, and laughed a little bit at Davey's blushing face.   
"Race could invite Spot, and Mush lives down the street, so he could invite Blink."

Davey saw where she was going with this. 

"Oh," Sarah said, smacking her forehead. "And you and Jack could invite Crutchie!" 

David turned away from them as Les shouted in agreement. 

"Yeah," David waved his hand at them. "Now get out of my room."

-

Once they were gone, David reached for his phone and sent a text to Jack. 

-

 

David: Hey! Are you planning on going to the block party on Friday? It's up by your house. :) 

Jack: i think so!

David: Cool! I was thinking we could invite a bunch of the other boys. Race and Mush live in the neighborhood, so we could invite Spot, Blink, Romeo, Specs, and Crutchie?

-

David took a deep breath, clicked the power button on his phone, and tossed it to the couch. He walked a lap around his house.   
He loved all his friends, obviously, but hanging out with Jack and Crutchie was something special. As much as he enjoyed talking to Race or Blink, he much preferred being with Jack and Crutchie.   
It bothered him that Sarah seemed to know that. 

Impulsively, he returned to his phone and checked his messages. 

Jack: ye lets do it

David rolled his eyes. He read the text over a few times, and brought his hand to his temple. Four words should not have made him feel like he had just eaten pure sugar. One of those wasn't even a real word! And yet…

David cleared his brain. Instead of texting Jack back, he scrolled through his messages until he found the group chat with all his friends. 

-

David: Hey guys! I bet a bunch of you have already heard about the block party in the neighborhood where Kath, Jack, Race, Mush, and I live. If you haven't, it's at 7 on this Friday, near Katherine's house, and you are all invited to come! 

Race: yea jack and I are going. You all should too

Spot: I'll be there

Mush: same @ race

Blink: same @ Spot

Crutchie: oh heck I'll have to check. But I'll probably be able to go. 

Katherine: Same @ Race

Specs: I'm with Romeo now, and we can both come! 

Sarah: I'm coming too! 

-

As each text rolled in, David became more and more excited for this party. 

He put his phone down and began to shake his hands. First he just moved them around his legs, but in no time, they were up at his chest area. 

Eventually, Sarah walked into the room and saw him flapping. 

"Excited?" She grinned. 

He nodded, and let out a laugh. 

"Me too."


	2. Ice Cream Scoops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arriving at the block party, and seeing friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally got some direction for this story. Here we go.

By the time Friday evening arrived, it had been two hundred-degree days. For every degree that the weather increased, David was one percent more done with the heat.   
When the sun was beating down and he wanted only to stand in a block of ice, though, he remembered that soon he would be with all his friends, and having so much fun that he wouldn't even care about the heat. 

Sarah caught his flapping a few more times over those days. Every time she did, she brought him a glass of water, not wanting him to exhaust himself. 

-

Finally, all too soon and not soon enough, David found himself being dragged up the street by his laughing little brother.   
Sarah, who had gotten a late start leaving the house, ran as fast as she could to catch up with them.   
They reached Kath's house, a block and a half later, out of breath and in need of a drink. Les stopped moving forward, and bent over. David pulled him to the water cooler, and poured three glasses of water. 

He turned around to give one to Sarah, but she had disappeared. A second later, he found her standing next to Katherine, with a glass of water already in her hand. 

-

All at once, a few different things happened. He went to call out to Sarah, to make a teasing face at her.   
Before he could, he felt two big hands clamp over his eyes, and he noticed Les's hand leave his. 

"Guess who?" The owner of the voice crooned. 

"Jack!" David helped, and ducked under his arms to turn around and smack his friend. 

"Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to freak you out." Jack put his hands up. David noticed Race cackling behind Jack. 

"You're fine. Just startled me." David reached for Jack's hands and pulled them down. 

-

Race had stopped laughing at them when Spot had showed up. Now, they were leaning on each other, and their faces were tilted inward, both grinning.   
And maybe - no - maybe blushing?

-

Mush had run up the street and practically attacked Blink with kisses on the cheek. They were squished together, and David wondered how they did that in the heat, but he also marveled at how cute they were. 

-

Specs and Romeo had arrived, and Spot, Race, Sarah, and Katherine had all gone to greet them. The four of them quickly engaged in conversation. Whether it was hilarious of infuriating, David couldn't quite tell. 

-

David stopped observing his surroundings altogether, however, when Crutchie walked up.   
Of course, it was difficult to notice the stars when all you could see was the sun. 

"Davey," Jack broke into his thoughts. "Should we go get ice cream?" 

"Yeah, let's go," David smiled. This was what he had been waiting for. Ice cream and friends. 

-

Sitting behind the table, serving ice cream, were four people David recognized. 

The first was his own mother, who had volunteered to help with the party when Les had brought her the flier. 

The second was Medda Larkin, Jack's adopted mother. 

The third was Joseph Pulitzer, Katherine's father, who looked less than happy to be there at all. 

The fourth and final person was Les, chocolate ice cream, strawberry sauce, and rainbow sprinkles covering his face. 

David decided not to be difficult about the state his brother was in, and just rolled his eyes before getting his ice cream - vanilla with butterscotch syrup. Jack got a few scoops of chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, and Crutchie got strawberry with hot fudge. 

-

The three of them found some space on the curb and dug into their ice cream, joking and laughing, and enjoying what they had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments make my day, and so does coming and talking to me on Tumblr @javidblue and @spot-and-all-his-cronies


	3. Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ghosts in the Graveyard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write this instead of attending the actual neighborhood block party.

Crutchie finished his ice cream first and set it on the curb next to him until his friends finished theirs. He grabbed their bowls and took them to the trash can. 

"You're the best, Crutchie!" Jack yelled after his friend. 

"Seriously, the greatest!" David added. 

Crutchie's smile shot back at them in response, shining at them from across the street. 

As he walked back, the the streetlights turned on. The setting sun made everything orange, and the lights dotted the cloudy, dark sky. 

-

Jack stood up to meet Crutchie, but as he turned his head, David noticed a smear of ice cream, with a single pink sprinkle, on his cheek. 

"Hold on, Jack," David chuckled. 

"What?"

David grabbed Jack's chin and twisted it so that he could show Crutchie, who giggled. 

"You've got a little-" David swiped the mess off with his thumb, and held it up so that Jack could see. "There."

Jack grinned lopsidedly and went to say something, but they heard a shout from down the street. 

"Hey boys!" Katherine was yelling and waving her arms at them. "Stop flirting and get down here! We're gonna play Ghost in the Graveyard!"

"We're coming!" Crutchie yelled back. 

"Alright, okay!" Jack threw his hands up. 

Sarah, who was holding Katherine's hand, stuck her tongue out at them.   
David mirrored her face once the girls had turned their backs. 

-

"Okay, so everyone knows how to play?" Spot asked the group, looking around for a challenger. 

"Uh, not quite, actually," squeaked Mush from behind Kid Blink. 

Spot turned, a little too dramatically, and glared at Mush for half a second.   
"So it's like this," he said, putting his hands in front of him. "One person is the ghost, and they hide. Everyone goes and tries to find the ghost. If you find the ghost, you're safe. The ghost, when they're either found or decide to jump out at someone, tags someone to be the next ghost. If the ghost doesn't tag anyone, then they're the ghost again."

"How do we get safe?" Specs asked. 

"Uh, we'll call that mailbox safe," Spot looked around and pointed. "Who's going to be the first ghost?"

"Me!" Les jumped up. 

"Alright, Les." David couldn't quite tell, but he thought Spot might have smiled at Les. "Everyone turn your backs so the kid can go hide."

-

The group did so gladly. Ghost in the Graveyard was tradition for a lot of them. They had been playing it since they were on the playground in elementary school.   
It had never gotten boring, no matter how old they were. 

-

"Okay, Les, that's a minute!" Spot shouted. "Let's go boys!"

Sarah and Katherine took the lead. The two of them, followed by everyone else, charged down the street at breakneck speed. 

Within a few seconds, everyone was turning over stones looking for Les. It didn't take much longer for someone to find him, and then for him to jump on Jack and declare Jack the next ghost. 

-

Race was the ghost after Jack, and he jumped out at Romeo, who screamed as loud as he could. 

-

Romeo, then, wanted to do the same thing. He hid behind a shrub in someone's front yard.   
Blink, determined to find the ghost at least once, ran up to the bush to look. 

Romeo jumped out at him and landed face first on the concrete driveway, with his foot caught on a branch. 

"Oh my god. Oh my god, Romeo," Blink breathed. 

"Guys!" Race screamed. 

Specs got to Romeo first, and sat him up, cradling his head. 

"Romeo, babe. Okay," he whispered. 

Medda came running, having been called by Jack. She took Romeo from Specs, and rushed him into her house. Specs followed close at her heels.   
Jack didn't let any of the other boys go with them. 

They sat on the porch, biting their nails, too shivery to talk. 

Minutes passed before Specs emerged, carrying a still-bloody Romeo. 

"We're going to get him home to his mom," Specs explained as he loaded his boyfriend into the passenger seat of his Subaru. 

-

No one felt like playing much after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You know the drill.


	4. S'mores

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow it's done. I loved this fic. I hope you did too. This chapter is the longest and the most happens in it and it makes me very happy.

The sun had been setting over the tops of buildings for almost two hours now. On long summer days, every second seemed like a minute.   
Most of the streetlights were in, illuminating the group of mostly teenagers in the street. Everyone wandered around, chatting aimlessly. 

Katherine made a point of telling everyone that Specs had texted her, and that Romeo was going to be fine.   
"He's going to have swelling and scabs and bruises, but he doesn't need to go to the hospital for stitches," she said as she walked around from group to group. 

-

"Davey," Les ran up to his older brother, "are we going to go home soon? I'm bored."

"Hold on, kid," Jack answered for David. "The best part of the night hasn't even started yet." Jack squeezed Les's stomach, "I hope you didn't fill up too much on ice cream, because Mush's family's got a fire pit, and we're making s'mores."

Les raised his eyebrows at David, and then ran back to Sarah to ask if having s'mores would be okay. Sarah smiled and ruffled Les's hair. 

-

Only after Jack grinned wickedly did David notice that Mush and Blink were trying desperately to get a fire to light in a tiny fire pit in Mush's front yard. 

It took a few minutes, but eventually, Race yelled, "fire!" Everyone turned to look at him, but he and Spot were too busy cackling on the ground to notice. 

David rolled his eyes, and followed Jack and Crutchie to the fire. It wasn't very big, given all the hype. The short flame was trying just as hard to stay alive as Mush and Blink had tried to get it to start.   
Spot squirted a little hand sanitizer on the flame, and the alcohol livened the sparks. 

-

Medda, carrying arms two bags of marshmallows, four boxes of graham crackers, and the biggest bar of chocolate David had ever seen, rushed over to the group. 

"Okay, kids. Mr. Pulitzer is on his way with some, uh, pointy things. Everyone make only one s'more until everyone gets one. One s'more is two crackers, one marshmallow, and two pieces of chocolate: no more. Absolutely no thievery will be tolerated with these. If you steal, you're cut off completely," Medda instructed. "Oh, Joe, thank you so much."

How Medda always smiled at Joseph Pulitzer, David would never understand.   
Everyone understood that Medda wasn't messing around about stealing, though, so they each got in line for exactly one s'more. 

-

Jack nudged David's shoulder once they were out of line, and nodded his head toward Les, who was standing next to the fire. Katherine was standing with him, helping to assemble his s'more.   
David looked around and realized that Sarah was still in line. 

The three boys shared knowing smiles before going to make their own treats. 

-

Of course, when they toasted their marshmallows, only Crutchie got his perfectly golden brown. David scorched one side of it, and left one side untouched. Jack blackened all of his; he had to blow out flames that had caught on it.   
Still, they all tasted perfect, if not a little smoky. 

None of them spoke, opting to listen to the conversations around them instead. 

-

"You can't eat a s'more without chocolate, Spot."

"I can, Race, if chocolate is disgusting. Which it is."

-

"Thanks for dealing with Les, babe."

"Of course. You know I love your family. If anything, Les was dealing with me."

-

"Miss Medda, when can I get another s'more?"

"When you have finished your first one, Les Jacobs!"

-

"Katherine, I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, dad. See you later."

-

"Sarah, dear, I think I'm leaving too. Us old folks, you know, we've got to get our sleep."

"Okay, bye mom, be safe."

-

"Mushy, babe, I've got to get home. Curfew is 10:30."

"I'll walk you home."

-

"Spend the night at my house, Race." 

-

Jack, Crutchie, and David stayed where they were as people left. 

Eventually, everyone but them had left.   
Sarah had taken Les home, and Katherine had walked them. 

-

The fire hadn't quite died yet, and David had to squint a little bit to see his friends' faces in the dim light. Jack's face, covered in marshmallow goop, had a content smile on it. 

"How do you always get food on your face?" Crutchie moved closer to Jack, and cleaned up the sticky marshmallow with his thumb. 

If the heat from the fire hadn't been getting to them before, it certainly was by that point. 

-

Jack moved backwards from the fire, and laid on the ground on his back. 

"I love-"

"We know, Jack. You love the stars," Crutchie teased as he laid down next to his friend. 

David laughed, and joined them on Jack's right side, his feet being warmed by the small sparks. 

They stayed, looking at what few stars they could see, for a few minutes. 

"Boys," Jack broke the silence. His voice was coarse, and almost shook. "Do you think - I mean, have you ever thought that," he paused, "there might be something here?"

"How do you mean?" David asked. 

"Like the three of us. We're good friends, right?"

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, do you think that maybe there's more? We work really well together as friends, but what about-"

"Boyfriends?" Crutchie finished. 

"Yeah."

"Of course I've thought about that. Friends, boyfriends. We're good together."

They silenced again. 

"Davey, what do you think?"

"I, uh, agree. I've thought too, that, uh, we are pretty good together. And, well. I think platonically or romantically, I want to keep you guys in my life."

None of them needed to look at each other to see the smiles forming. The fire had died completely. 

"Well, in that case," Jack stretched out both his hands, and touched David's and Crutchie's forearms. "Do you want to try being-"

"Boyfriends?" Crutchie laughed again. 

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"Yes."

Jack's hands found David's and Crutchie's. David squeezed Jack's hand, and Jack turned to face him better. 

"Are you okay, Dave? You're quiet."

"I'm fine. I'm just-"

He stopped explaining when his eyes met Jack's. In one movement, he pushed himself forward to his friend - his boyfriend - and connected their lips.   
He felt Jack grinning into the kiss, his teeth clashing against David's lips.   
They heard Crutchie giggling at their messy kiss, which made them stop. Keeping their faces pressed together, they laughed again. 

All three of them sat up, and stayed there, cross-legged, taking turns holding hands and kissing.   
David rested his forehead against Crutchie's after a longer kiss, and Jack leaned in to peck them both on their cheeks. 

-

"Crutchie, do you need to get home?" Jack stood up and asked eventually. 

"Hm? Oh yeah."

"We'll walk you," David offered. He stood up too, and offered his hands to both of the boys. 

-

They all got home safely that night, after many promised to see each other the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we just appreciate that the three of them made out on Mush's front yard for who knows how long? Rude. 
> 
> Leave comments and kudos if you liked it, and come talk to me on tumblr @javidblue and @spot-and-all-his-cronies!

**Author's Note:**

> Make sure to thank your local chatfic author. That's hard to write. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are what keep me inspired to write! Let me know what you think!


End file.
